A blog commenting on various aspects of the private collecting and trade in archaeological artefacts today and their effect on the archaeological record.

Thursday, 27 November 2014

Mixantik and his 'Connections' with Christies

Roberta Mazza ('Provenance issues: Information with thoughts to follow',
Faces and Voices
November 26, 2014) has some interesting information on the
acquisition history of the newly-surfaced (5th-6th century AD?) papyrus fragment (GC.MS.000462) from a codex page containing lines from Galatians 2 in Sahidic Coptic. The story of the collecting history is almost as much of a cracker as the Sappho-from-a-book story.

The Galatians 2 Coptic fragment (GC.MS.000462)
was purchased in 2013 by Steven Green from a trusted dealer; the Museum
of the Bible/Green Collection archives do have files attesting that the
papyrus was part of the David Robinson papyrus lot sold at a Christie’s auction in London in November 2011.
The files do not explain what happened to the manuscript between
November 2011 and October 2012, when it was on sale on eBay. The only
person who would be able to explain how a papyrus legally acquired at a
Christie’s auction in London went on sale on an eBay account located in
Turkey at this point would be the above mentioned trusted dealer, whose
identity remains undisclosed.

This same fragment was being sold (he wanted $14,000) by 'Mixantik' on eBay in 2012: Brice Jones, '
A Coptic New Testament Papyrus Fragment (Galatians 2) For Sale on eBay', Quartarion Monday, October 29, 2012. Note here that in the seller's description, it is specifically noted that these are dugup artefacts, not the selling of an old collection bought by the Istanbul seller through a major London auction house. See also Dorothy King's '
The Tale of the Very Dodgy Papyri ... ' PhDiva blog Friday, December 14, 2012. The notion that 'Mixantik' in involved in the resale of material obtained in high-end auction houses looks a little absurd if seen in the context of all the other material (range, quality and presentation) he has dealt with over the same period. The assemblage as a whole gives an entirely different picture - which is why several bloggers (and, if we are to believe it, the Turkish authorities) have taken an interest in him.

What 'documentation' links papyri from this November 2011 sale with 'Mixantik'? I bet Christie's would like to see it too.

The
London sale 28 November 2011 conveniently lists "59 packets of papyri fragments, approximately 20 x 45mm to 300 x 100mm,
the majority in Greek, from various manuscripts containing texts in a
variety of hands and including documentary, petitionary and literary
excerpts, receipts, contracts and accounts". If Mixantik bought the
whole lot of 59 packets for £7,500, then 13 months later asking for
$14,000 for one fragment from one packet represents the makings of a
nice profit.

More to the point, if 'Mixantik' had bought
some papyri with secure and documented 1960s provenance from London, he
would have had no problem obtaining a Turkish export licence for them
when they were re-exported. Can we see Mr Green's copy of that export
licence?

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About Me

British archaeologist living and working in Warsaw, Poland. Since the early 1990s (or even longer) a primary interest has been research on artefact hunting and collecting and the market in portable antiquities in the international context and their effect on the archaeological record.

Abbreviations used in this blog

"coiney" - a term I use for private collector of dug up ancient coins, particularly a member of the Moneta-L forum or the ACCG

"heap-of-artefacts-on-a-table-collecting" the term rather speaks for itself, an accumulation of loose artefacts with no attempt to link each item with documented origins. Most often used to refer to metal detectorists (ice-cream tubs-full) and ancient coin collectors (Roman coins sold in aggregated bulk lots)